Chapter 977 — The Far Side of Nothingness
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The golden desert was vast beyond measure; Shen Mu and Luo Wushuang journeyed on and on, and after more than ten days they still had not come to its end.
Many uncanny things happened in that desert. At night the sky was black and moonless: the moon of the Great Void Land had been knocked beyond the heavens by Shen Mu with the core of the Primordial Wood.
In the deep of the night, a woman's weeping drifted through the sands, circling them, now near, now far.
Luo Wushuang sent his primordial spirit out of his body and became a god-man a thousand zhang tall, his divine radiance streaming ten thousand zhang, and walked on with his blade in hand; only then did the sound come no closer.
"That must be the weeping of lonely ghosts and wild spirits.
" Shen Mu, somewhat doubtful, said, "Lonely ghosts and wild spirits in the desert, and they have not turned into Great Void monsters?
" In the darkness there were also shrill, desolate howls, and songs sweet and lilting.
There were no stars in the sky, nor any moon, and no way to tell direction. When the two meant to rest, ghost fires glimmered in the dark, drifting on ahead.
They followed the ghost fires; when they halted, the ghost fires halted; when they pressed forward, the ghost fires pressed forward.
When day came the ghost fires vanished. But Shen Mu took out the map drawn by Yue Tingge, and found that the path they had taken matched it exactly, without the smallest deviation, and he could not help clicking his tongue in wonder.
On the second night the ghost fires appeared again, leading them on their way.
On the third night, under the ghost fires' guidance, they came upon a city of extraordinary splendor in the desert. The city blazed with light in the darkness; even at the dead of night it was clamorous, the streets lined with stalls, the crowds thronging back and forth, and every one of them a giant ten zhang tall, some a hundred zhang and more. The ghost fire drifted into the city, touched ground, and became a giant, who respectfully invited them inside. The giants of the city were most hospitable and entertained them with great warmth.
Shen Mu opened the third eye in the center of his brow and looked about, seeing through the true forms of these Creators, and said nothing.
Whenever the giants toasted him, he refused nothing; Luo Wushuang had at first been wary, guarding against treachery, but seeing Shen Mu eat and drink and laugh and sport, he too let himself go.
Since coming to the Great Void he had met with nothing but trouble: driven to rebel against the Heavenly Court, and then defeated at Shen Mu's hands.
With so much weighing on his mind, he drank himself dead drunk. Shen Mu, sated with wine and food, bowed to the giants and said, "For your kind hospitality, gentlemen, if I one day achieve something, I will establish a Nether Capital in the Great Void, so that you may all pass on to your next lives.
" Hearing this, the giants beamed with delight. Their city lord was a giant a thousand zhang tall, who bade them all come into the palm of his hand to sing and dance.
They reveled long that night, and Luo Wushuang, drunk, fell asleep. When dawn came Shen Mu woke him.
Luo Wushuang rose, and only then discovered that he had been lying in the palm of a giant a thousand zhang tall, and that all around were dry bones. Startled and uncertain, he looked down from that height: within the city bones lay strewn across the open ground, not a living soul among them, and horror seized his heart.
"What was it we ate and drank last night?
" Shen Mu bowed to the giant's corpse and said, "Rest easy, gentlemen. What I promised yesterday, Shen Mu will surely fulfill one day.
Brother Luo, let us go, and continue on our way. " Luo Wushuang followed him out of this city of Creators, and looking back saw the wind rise and the sand rise with it, and soon the strange city was buried beneath the golden dunes.